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Self-Driving Vehicles on City Streets

Posted By Staff || 21-Aug-2014

Last summer we posted about autonomous, or self-driving, vehicles and
the progress that had been made in regard to these automobiles. At that
time, Google had reported approximately 50,000 miles being traveled by these
driverless cars. Because of the overall successful testing on interstates and highways
by companies such as Google and Volvo, these self-driving automobiles
are now being tested on city streets. This type of driving is oftentimes
much more unpredictable than that of interstate and highway systems due
in large part to the many moving objects and surroundings that a vehicle
and driver faces while on city streets. For instance, there are stop signs
and stop lights, pedestrians, other vehicles pulling out or turning, parked
cars, and more for these autonomous vehicles to safely navigate.

Google's self-driving car project has been very successful thus far,
but must now expand into the more detail-oriented areas of U.S. roadways.
According to Google, we have little to worry about because these self-driving
cars are able to detect hundreds of objects at once, including buses,
stop signs, cyclists, and pedestrians. As of June, these vehicles had
logged over 700,000 miles of self-driving mode. That is a great leap from
last year's number.

The potential that these vehicles allow for is enormous. Because these
autonomous vehicles do not require human intervention, they could allow
disabled citizens the ability to commute independently. For instance,
elderly citizens with slower reflexes, those who are hard of seeing or
blind, and those without the physical means to operate a vehicle would
be able to travel freely if self-driving automobiles become available
to consumers. Not only that; but the amount of injuries and deaths caused
by automobile crashes could potentially decrease with the addition of
self-driving vehicles. Most
automobile wrecks are caused by human error, so if the human is taken out of the equation,
perhaps there will be less crashes, and therefore less injuries.

Unfortunately, all technological advances tend to have some issues and
kinks that must be worked out. These self-driving vehicles make use of
radar systems, GPS, computers, and other technology. If any of these systems
were to fail or have kinks, the entire system could be in jeopardy. If
the vehicle is in jeopardy, so are citizens around it. And even if these
vehicles are released to the public once the technical issues are worked
out, there is still a question of legality in the event of injuries. For
instance, if a self-driving vehicle were forced to make the decision between
hitting a pedestrian or another vehicle and it chose the latter, who is
responsible for the vehicle's passengers' injuries and vehicle
repairs? These types of questions will have to be addressed before self-driving
vehicles are sold to consumers.

Regardless of the questions still surrounding these self-driving vehicles,
there is a high potential for increases safety with the introduction of
these self-driving cars. Needless to say, we will all be watching and
listening for news on the further development of these vehicles.

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